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Amazon Japan-Selling Third party Child Porn

Japanese police finally are investigating alleged sales of child pornography by third-party vendors on the country’s version of Amazon.com. The issue is not about Amazon selling this trash itself, it’s about so-called third-party vendors who showcase the porn on Amazon’s site. But according to its critics, the net result is basically the same: Amazon’s accusers say it is facilitating the sexual exploitation of children.

Japan has been extremely slow to crack down on child pornography, only banning simple possession last year (with a one-year grace period that will soon expire). Selling child pornography is illegal, however, and has been since 1999.

According to the police and the Mainichi newspaper, last summer the Aichi Prefectural Police found photo books on Amazon Japan featuring fully nude pictures of underage girls during an online patrol. They opened a full investigation. In September, police arrested two male owners of a used bookstore for violating the child pornography laws and, later, 10 other vendors in Japan who had broken the law.

Last year, the police searched an Amazon distribution center in Odawara City, Kanagawa Prefecture, and on Jan. 23 of this year, police reportedly searched Amazon Japan’s headquarters in Tokyo as well as a distribution center belonging to Amazon Logistics in Chiba Prefecture, according to police sources and the Japanese media.

Police sources said they suspect that Amazon was aware that vendors dealing in illegal child porn had been selling their products on the website, but chose to ignore the fact despite the company’s guidelines clearly stating that illegal products are not allowed to be sold there. The Aichi Prefectural Police told The Daily Beast that if the suspicions prove to be true, Amazon Japan executives could be charged with aiding in the sale of child pornography.